1. Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a hanger for supporting a connection between two structural members and, in particular, a hanger for supporting a post-to-beam connection.
2. Description of Related Art
Many construction projects require the attachment of a horizontally extending structural member to a side surface of a vertically extending structural member. One specific example of such a project concerns the attachment of a beam member 10 to the side surface 12 of a post member 14 as shown in FIG. 1. It is typical to make this attachment by driving a mounting device 16, such as a nail, screw or bolt, into the side surface 18 of the beam member 10, through the beam member and into the post member 14. The mounting device 16 in this configuration, however, may not be capable of supporting a large load on the beam member 10. As a result of excessive loading, the mounting device connection may fail.
To provide for improved structural support there would be an advantage to instead use a hanger (clip or bracket) which is secured to the side surface of a post member and further supports an underside surface of the beam member. A number of exemplary hangers of this type are known in the art. However, these hangers suffer from a number of drawbacks.
First, the hangers are typically made of stamped and folded galvanized steel and thus possess a utilitarian appearance driven by functional configuration. In most applications, it is preferred that such galvanized hangers and other such hardware not be visible. It is thus typical for some form of finish carpentry to be used to conceal the hanger from view. For example, the finish carpentry may box or case around the hanger with wood trim pieces of a type similar to, or complementary of, the post and beam members. There is accordingly an added cost to use of such galvanized hangers that is associated with the need to hide the hanger itself.
Second, the hangers are typically manufactured with sizes specifically selected for commonly used dimensional structural members (i.e., dimensional lumber). It is known in the art that the stated dimensional size of a wood structural member is not the actual dimensional size. For example, a 2×6 wood beam will not typically measure two actual inches in thickness and six actual inches in width. This is especially the case when the wood structural member is something other than “rough cut” (where rough cut members more conventionally are dimensionally accurate or close to dimensionally accurate). The differences in size may, for example, be geographic such that a 2×6 wood beam in one geographic region is one size and a 2×6 wood beam in another geographic region is another size. Alternatively, the differences in size may vary from lumber mill to lumber mill, or vary depending on the treatment made to the wood. It is not uncommon for a “2×6” wood beam to have thicknesses varying from 1.5 to 2.0 inches and widths varying from 5.5 inches to 6.0 inches. The conventional galvanized hangers, constructed solely for commonly encountered dimensions, are not well suited to handle the dimensional variability of structural members, and in particular are not configured to adjust to differences in thickness.
What is needed is a post-to-beam hanger which supports the underside surface of the beam along with secure attachment to the post, is adjustable to handle dimensional variability of structural members and is configured to present an attractive appearance obviating the need for finish concealment.